The first record we have of volunteers to control any conflagration in Miles City is the story told by Sam Gordon in his "Recollections of Old Miles Town", telling how certain fellows would man the pumps and others would form a hand brigade, with buckets, to fight fires. The alarm in those days was usually given by shooting pistols in the air in rapid succession. The first official steps which were taken to organize a fire department was in the fall of 1899, when on November 14th, the city council passed an ordinance which provided for the organization of a fire department. With the adoption of this ordinance, Doc Redd, who was then mayor, appointed Louis King as Chief Engineer and George w. Savage as Assistant Engineer. There were two hook and ladder companies, each having a captain and a foreman, and at least eight members on the team. A horse drawn fire wagon was purchased in May, 1908, and whenever the fire whistle sounded, the streets between the firehall and the location of the fire were pretty well cleared, so that no one would get run over by the fire department racing to the fire. The first automotive truck was purchased in 1916.